Sailors from guided-missile destroyer USS Preble (DDG 88) won the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) basketball tournament finals with a score of 54 to 43 at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.

Sailors assigned to Preble and the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) made it to the finals of an international sports competition to build relationships with fellow RIMPAC participants.

"It's great we get to experience working with foreign navies to build upon our relationships through sports," said Engineman First Class Peten Brink, Preble Team Captain. "And usually in an exercise this large it's hard to beat the carriers, but I just told my guys to go out there and have a good time."

Over four days, Sailors from Preble competed in a tournament that consisted of 45 teams from ships scheduled to participate, representing more than 25 nations.

"Coming together with teams from different countries to compete and have fun was a great experience," said Logistics Specialist 1st Class Jimmie Dunn, Carl Vinson Point Guard. "RIMPAC is a great exercise for me. It's about building relationships and coming together with Sailors from other platforms. Not everyone in RIMPAC can get this experience. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity for some of us."

In the semi-finals, four U.S. Navy teams squared off in two games to determine the final game. Team Preble emerged victorious in a game against guided-missile destroyer USS Sterett (DDG 104) with a final score of 47 to 37.

Simultaneously, Sailors assigned to Carl Vinson defeated the team from guided-missile destroyer USS O'Kane (DDG 77) with a final score of 45 to 37.

Twenty-five nations, 46 ships, five submarines, about 200 aircraft, and 25,000 personnel are participating in RIMPAC from June 27 to Aug. 2 in and around the Hawaiian Islands and Southern California. The world's largest international maritime exercise, RIMPAC provides a unique training opportunity while fostering and sustaining cooperative relationships among participants critical to ensuring the safety of sea lanes and security of the world's oceans. RIMPAC 2018 is the 26th exercise in the series that began in 1971.

For more information, visit www.navy.mil, www.facebook.com/usnavy, or www.twitter.com/usnavy.

For more news from Rim of the Pacific, visit www.navy.mil/.